05 Sep
2006 - Brussels/Strasbourg - Four leading Members
of the European Parliament, from the main political
groups, feature together in a WWF TV spot on the
proposed new EU chemicals law (REACH). After 3
years of discussions, REACH is scheduled to pass
its final vote in the European Parliament this
autumn.
In the spot, Guido Sacconi,
European Parliament’s rapporteur on REACH and
Italian member of the Socialists group (PES),
Péter Olajos, Hungarian member of the European
People’s Party (EPP), Chris Davies, UK member
of the Liberal group (ALDE), and Riitta Myller,
Finnish PES member, meet during a “chemical therapy
group” and confess they are contaminated with
toxic chemicals.
As WWF’s blood tests have repeatedly
shown, hazardous man-made chemicals are everywhere:
in our bodies, our environment and the products
we buy. Aware of this uncontrolled human exposure
to chemicals, the four Members of the European
Parliament representing the main parties are united
in their call for a strong European chemicals
law, which replaces harmful chemicals by safer
alternatives whenever possible.
“The European Parliament voted
at first reading to replace harmful chemicals
with safer alternatives whenever these are available.
This is the best way to protect citizens and the
environment from hazardous chemicals in the future.
REACH is a unique opportunity and we must do everything
possible to ensure it delivers safer chemicals
for our children and grandchildren”, said Guido
Sacconi.
The television spot will be
broadcasted on the pan-European channel Euronews
during the first week of September and in several
EU national television stations. A printed version
will also appear in the European press.
In the run-up to the final adoption
of REACH, WWF urges European legislators to adopt
the necessary measures to ensure that the new
law will:
• Phase out all persistent, bioaccumulative and
endocrine disrupting chemicals and substitute
all hazardous chemicals with safer alternatives
where they are available.
• Set strict requirements on chemical producers
to provide safety information before a chemical
can be sold or continue to be used.
• Allow consumers to easily find out what chemicals
are in everyday products.
Noemi Cano
Note to editors
• Mpg and Media Player versions
of the TV spot, as well as the printed advertisement
in EN/FR/IT/FI/HU are available upon request and
will be available on the web after the embargo
time.
• Photos in high and low resolution are available
under embargo on http://assets.panda.org/downloads/pictures_tv_spot.zip
• An information note on the TV spot and related
materials can be found on www.panda.org/detox
and www.panda.org/epo
• The images are copyright protected and can only
be used to illustrate the related press release.
Any other subsequent rights are not allowed and
are subject to approval by WWF. This restriction
includes that these pictures must not be made
available to any third party, in particular it
may under no circumstances be published on a public
web site. Individual photo credits are mandatory.
